The economic woes of the Marshall Islands continued throughout 2011. For the fourth consecutive year, the Social Security Administration had to sell investments to meet retirees’ benefit payments. It was believed that if the trend continued, the fund could be exhausted by 2020. The country’s national trust fund, a key component of the economy, lost 10% of its value in a single month (August) as international equity markets, in which the money was invested, fell steeply amid global concerns about sovereign debt. In an attempt to increase revenue, the government, which had been repeatedly criticized by auditing agencies for lack of accountability, considered partial privatization of the heavily indebted national airline, Air Marshall Islands.

The government realized financial benefits from its membership in the consortium of Pacific Islands countries known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement. The group regulated access to members’ tuna fisheries and allowed its members to sell or trade designated “fishing days” within their waters. In August the Marshall Islands received some $1 million from the sale of such rights to Papua New Guinea. The government managed to pass a 2012 budget in September, but only because 70% of the budget was funded by contributions from the U.S. and Taiwan. The U.S. demanded the inclusion of tuberculosis- and leprosy-control programs, which had not been part of the original budget.

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